Post-Hurricane herping... November 10, 11 & 12, 2012

Well, the East Coast got slammed by Hurricane Sandy as we were coming back from Chiller and as of this writing (Nov. 13th), much of it hasn't recovered. To add insult to injury, a Noreaster blew threw last Wednesday, giving us an unexpected 2 inches of snow right here in the Boston area. We're way better off than New Jersey and New York, but this Fall has sucked it! So why should we bother herping? Because fuck you, that's why!

Saturday, November 10th
With the temps in the mid-50s and wind blowing, I'm not sure what we expected to see, but we went to Borderland. We got there at 2:30 PM (we figured the sun would be at its highest... completely forgetting that Daylight Savings Time had happened...) and noticed that the gates would shut at 4:30. So, speed-hiking it is!

The usual snakey places were barren and the sun wasn't really hitting them any more. So we headed up the trail. That clump in the pond looked interesting...

Nope... that was a stick... not a turtle shell. Wait- what's that on the other clump?? To the right of the picture...

Holy crap... it looks like 2 Painted Turtles!!

Two intrepid chelonians were up and enjoying the waning rays of sunlight! Check out that hoist!

OK- Two turtles on November 10th! That gave me a huge happy!

The rest of the (quick) hike produced no more herps but that hardly mattered!



This Chipmunk regarded me...


Cold and windy, but still beautiful!



We got to poke around the farm house. We just found out on our last trip from our DCR pal that it was OK to do so... its not occupied.

Nothing there, but I'm gonna herp the shit out of that place in the Spring!

I almost got a great shot of this Downy Woodpecker...


So we saw some reptiles on a cold day and got a good walk in. Not too shabby, sez me!

Sunday, November 11th
I had to work Sunday morning and afternoon (a record show) but with temps projected to be in the mid 60s, Andrea decided to go it alone and take a look at the Arboretum. She got there at about 1:30 and it was a beautiful sight, for sure!


Approaching the ponds, she heard some startled frogs leap in, but they were too quick for pictures...
Still, it was a lovely walk...




I got home just before sunset (about 4 PM) and we went up to Kate and Snag's yard in hopes of a last minute Dekay's Snake. No snakes, but we saw a half dozen Redbacks!



(Check out the tip of worm to the left...)

Monday, November 12th
We were both stuck at work on Veteran's day (observed) while the temps were supposed to be scraping the 70s. Indian Summer and we were going to miss it. I hurried home after work and headed straight to my friend's house... hoping for Dekay's again! Nope... it was, in fact, pretty cool back there by 4 PM. Perfect for Redbacks, though! I saw a dozen easily!



Too slow for this tail-less guy!







Big ones and small ones, fast ones and slow ones... I love me some Redbacks! They keep me happy, herping into November! And I must say, it is a privilege and an honor to have friends like Kate and Snag. They let us herp their yard... they understand our need!